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To: stockman_scott who wrote (72192)	7/7/2008 11:01:15 PM
From: Wharf Rat	Respond to of 104145

Fort Worth rat factory pesters neighbors By MIKE LEEmikelee@star-telegram.com FORT WORTH — For five years, the Big Cheese Rodent Factory operated relatively quietly in an industrial area in south Fort Worth. But in the last two months, the company has been involved in a contested zoning case and an investigation by the Fort Worth Public Health Department. The city ordered the company to control the smell from its operation after investigators determined that a steady odor was affecting nearby businesses. One investigator "experienced moments of nausea" during a site visit, according to a health department report. The company’s owners say the complaints are coming from a handful of people. Nevertheless, they’re spending tens of thousands of dollars to cut down on the odor, and they’re asking for a zoning change that will allow them to expand. "We’ll fix our problem, but we need a little time," co-owner Chad Martin said. Neighbors appear to be split. Frank Moreland, who has an architecture studio south of the factory, said, "I don’t think it can be solved; I think they have to move." Steve McLaughlin, who has a landscaping business to the north, said the company has responded whenever he has complained about the smell from a large metal trash bin. The neighborhood also gets odors from nearby steel mills, a candle factory and a paving company — but there are only a few full-time residents. "That’s the reason we have industrial zoning," McLaughlin said. The factory breeds and sells 500,000 to 600,000 rats and mice a month from its two locations — one in rural Iredell and one in south Fort Worth. Most of the animals are used to feed birds, snakes and other exotic animals. The company’s customers include pet owners, pet stores and zoos across the country, co-owner Lynda Hanna said. She and her son, Chad Martin, got into the business in 1999, after reading a Wall Street Journal article about the need for mice and rats to feed the growing number of exotic animals. They opened their Fort Worth location in 2003. A neighbor first complained about the smell in 2005, but the city decided that the complaint was unfounded. In May, though, the city investigated again and determined that the odor was strong enough and occurred frequently enough to violate state air-quality guidelines. T.C. Michael, a supervisor in the health department, said the factory sent information in June outlining its plans to fix the odor problem. State law and city policy require the city to give the factory time to comply, he said. "They are making a conscientious effort to contain the odor," he said. "As long as they are making some progress, we cannot go after them just like that." The four rooms where the mice and rats are bred have sheet metal skirts along the walls and traps in the corners to prevent animals from escaping. Escapes are probably rare, since the captive-bred mice and rats are white and would probably not last long in the wild, Hanna said. The rats and mice are kept in plastic tubs, which are sanitized once a week. A pest-control service has placed traps outside the building to control wild mice and rats, which could spread disease if they got into the building. The smell seems to come from two sources. All the building’s vents are on the south side, which directs the air toward Moreland and other property owners who have complained. Also, a large metal trash bin on the north side of the building fills up once a week with wood shavings and animal waste. Hanna has already installed equipment in one of the breeding rooms that produces ozone, which controls the odor by killing bacteria. The smell in that room is noticeably less pungent. The company has also bought a tarp to cover the metal trash bin and has started spraying disinfectant in the bin to control the smell. They’ve also taken bids to determine the cost of enclosing the bin in a building, Hanna said. The complaints came at the same time that the factory applied for a zoning change that would allow it to expand its building. The zoning commission voted to delay the request at its May meeting after several property owners showed up to protest. The commission is scheduled to hear the case again Wednesday. When the factory opened, the city mistakenly zoned the land for a warehouse, Hanna said. The change, to industrial zoning, is more appropriate for the neighborhood and will allow the building to expand. However, the factory will still have to meet health guidelines — including the ones against emitting bad smells, Michaels said. "Odor is odor regardless; zoning will have no effect on that whatsoever," he said. star-telegram.com